It was March 1st when I posted my first thoughts on starting this Ever Winding Road endeavor. I had decided to step out of your own comfort zones and change how I will make my way in this world. I wanted to take more photos and document the world around me, to find my voice in my experiences and really take the time for a bit of learning and gratitude, and to take a new approach in my life and be mindful of my own influences as well as my daughter’s. It has not been an easy year, and I still have bigger goals in mind, but I am so glad I took that first step. As I look back on what has made a big difference in my outlook, it was to have the support of friends, family, and even strangers… who have offered so much encouragement in my journey. This […]

After the election results in November, I remember reading the invite to this Woman’s March and thinking to myself that this NEEDED to happen, and asking myself why isn’t this happening sooner. I think my immediate need for action was basically me not understanding the scale of what this event was going to be. As the date grew closer and the anticipation of the inauguration was building as well. I am past the point of “how did this happen?” or even mourning the times as it were. I am past feeling the sadness over the whole situation and I have just letting the anger consume me. I am okay with that, the anger needs to stay and keep me motivated. What made me so proud that day of the march was to see that I wan’t alone, that there was a fury that we all must feel and be activated […]

Together with my husband (Bryan “Peabe” Odiamar) and our friend (Jon Stuyvesant), we had shared some anger recently when we read an article in the Tribune about how 25 people were shot in a 14 hour period in Chicago. We were all born and raised there, in Chicago, and still violent even many years back. We were outraged. As the number kept growing this year, we considered the social climate of the city as we continued in our own daily lives outside the city. We wanted to do something, be active somehow, but also felt so removed from the issues being out of state. Jon Stuyvesant currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. He has worked in television for a variety of major networks including: NBC, ABC, OWN, TLC, A&E & MTV. As a documentary filmmaker Jon has worked on many award winning films and most recently completed Raising Bertie, a […]

Dearest family and friends; I have been processing my thoughts around this election and current state of the country… I am not going to tell you who and what you should vote for, as I know from the results there are more than half of the country (including some of my own family and friends) remained complacent or had been part of a silent majority. I am not here to educate you, I am not here to represent some marginalized group, and I am not here to judge you on your decision. I only ask that you, as my circle, hear me out. In return, I promise now that if you need someone to hear you out, you should know I am hear for ya. This election has not tested my friendships, as I know we all have a right to our opinion. This president doesn’t scare me, but the […]

When our friend, Jon, told us that there was a premier for his new movie in Los Angeles, we jumped at the opportunity to be there with him. He’s one of my husband’s oldest friends, my old roommate here in Oakland, one of our best men at our wedding, my wii-bowling nemesis, the official officiant for my wedding, and one of the most talented filmmaker and photographer I know. He left us out in Oakland one day to do some filming for a documentary in North Carolina and told us he would be back in a month or two. He never returned. As much as we missed him, we knew how important this was and we grew attached to the characters when he would talk about them. It was a labor of love, filming over the span of six years, and anyone would be able to see the heart and soul […]

As a mother, I have moments of questioning what I’m doing and how things affect her. She’s 4 and has been getting stronger in her abilities to understand the world and communicate it with us. She fills with questions and we as her parents are here to answer them. I’ve been a little overcome recently with thoughts of what kind of world she has waiting for her. Her mind already understands empathy. She sees a friend cry at school and she wants to console them. Her mind already understands injustice. Her daily struggle in life is negotiating her bedtime as she sees it as unfair that we get to stay up later than her. Slowly, her connections with the world get larger than her home or her classroom, they become a community issue. That community issue grows to a larger world issue. I know my daughter is watching me for reactions on issues, […]

Evie was about 1 year and 9 months when she first saw Black Lives Matter run through downtown Seattle on Black Friday. She was with us in a hotel lobby when we first saw news of the Baton Rouge shooting at 4 years old. It all seems like a little much for a little person to understand, but can you get in front of it all for them? How can I as a parent keep open lines of communication for her to ask me about it without giving her more than what her little mind can take? There are many reasons that my husband and I support the Black Lives Matter movement. This is NOT saying we don’t care about ‘All Lives…’ or even ‘Blue Lives…’, but that we understand there is a systemic injustice in the world and right now that has been around for a long time and it’s […]

Now and days it’s pretty difficult to avoid having some pretty serious talks with my 4-year old. On television, social media, or even out on the streets she will come across things that make her question things. Sometimes it’s really surprising what she comes across and asks me about. This week, she asked me what a booty clap was… apparently she heard an older cousin talking about it and thought to ask me… yikes. With “politicians” running around with hateful messages, I’d like to get in front of it all and consider how she processes different information. I think I’m lucky enough to have 2 things in my corner that really help me in this mission: 1. Oakland is super mixed as far as the type of people that live here, there’s such a mix here that she’s offered experiences in a lot of different cultures and is exposed to […]

Who?

Thank you for joining me on Ever Winding Road.
I am a mother and wife with a love of design, the outdoors, traveling, and eating. I'm also a first time blogger and exploring a new creative outlet here on this blog, so it is a work in progress. My husband and I have made our way out west to Oakland, California after leaving Chicago, Illinois 8 years ago, but know the adventures never end...